Google claims its quantum computer really works

A controversial machine marketed as "the world's first commercial quantum computer" that Google and Nasa bought in 2013 resoundingly has beaten a conventional computer in a series of tests, researchers at Google say.

Google said it has proof that this machine really can use quantum physics to work through a type of math that is crucial to artificial intelligence much faster than a conventional computer.

Governments and leading computing companies such as Microsoft, IBM, and Google are trying to develop what are called quantum computers because using the weirdness of quantum mechanics to represent data could unlock immense data-crunching powers.

"It is a truly disruptive technology that could change how we do everything," said Deepak Biswas, director of exploration technology at NASA's Ames Research Centre in California.

Computing giants believe quantum computers could make their artificial-intelligence software much more powerful and unlock scientific leaps in areas like materials science, according to MIT Technology Review.